The final act of the NBA Finals: 2 teams, 1 game, 1 trophy. Pacers at Thunder will decide a champion
OKLAHOMA CITY — It started with 30 teams, most of them fairly optimistic about their chances when the season began eight months and 1,320 games and 35,543 3-pointers and 299,608 points ago.
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Only two teams remain. For one game. Game 7.
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The NBA season ends Sunday night when the Indiana Pacers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder to decide which team will hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy, take over for the Boston Celtics as champions and become the league's seventh different title winner in the last seven years. It's the first winner-take-all game in the NBA since 2016, when Cleveland beat Golden State.
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'I'm very much looking forward to Game 7,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'The last time we've had one of these in the finals, I think, was '16. These are special moments certainly for both teams but for our league, for the game, for the worldwide interest in the game. It's a time to celebrate.'
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Yes, but only one team will celebrate Sunday night.
For the Pacers, it would be a first NBA title and the capper to a season that started with Indiana banged up and getting off to a 10-15 record through the first 25 games. No team has ever been below .500 that deep into a season and went on to win a championship.
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For the Thunder, it would be a first NBA title — kind of, sort of, Seattle won one in 1979 and even though the franchise moved to Oklahoma City from there, the Thunder don't recognize it as one of their own — and wrap up a season in which the team scored more points than any other club in NBA history and posted the best record.
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'We have to understand the work is done and we have to trust the work,' Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said Saturday, the final practice day of the season. 'The muscle is built. We have to flex that muscle. That's what tomorrow will come down to for us.'
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It has been the epitome of a back-and-forth series, with both teams having the lead at some point. Indiana led 1-0 and 2-1; Oklahoma City led 3-2 but got blown out in Game 6, its first chance at winning the title.
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So, here we are, tied at 3-3, one game away from a decision.
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'Grateful for the opportunity,' Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. 'That's one thing I can say is throughout the whole entire thing, you always have to remain grateful for where you are because there's a lot of NBA players that will trade their spot with me right now. That's how I look at it. But as far as history, I want to be on the good side of that, for sure.'
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Oklahoma City has looked every bit the part of a championship contender all year; going 68-14 in the regular season cemented the Thunder into the favourite's role. Being the best team in the regular season is for this very privilege, to play host for Game 7.
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